President's Message, Allyn Walker

The purpose of the International Dale Carnegie Franchisee Association (IDCFA) is to be a strategic partner with Dale Carnegie & Associates so that we can all win in the marketplace.

Our recent Owner's Meeting truly illustrated this partnership.  We gathered in Chicago and heard presentations on many key elements to our business.  The theme was "Driving Our Future."  The meeting was highly attended and included franchisees from four continents and nine countries. 

First and foremost, our new CEO Joe Hart inspired us.  If you haven't heard his presentation CLICK HERE. 

In addition, we reviewed and renewed our shared commitments:

1. Live the Dale Carnegie Principles (walk the talk)
2. Try Honestly to See Things from the Other's Person's Point of View (P17)
3. Make Decisions based on the Customer
4. Collaborate and Communicate (show up and share)
5. Reduce Barriers to Large Complex Projects (IWWCW)
6. Invest in a Unified, Global Brand (time, energy and/or money)

These shared commitments should guide us as Dale Carnegie Franchisees and members of the IDCFA.

The entire agenda was packed with valuable content and inspiration! Here is a sampling:

• Customer Panel (tremendous ideas of how to connect with context)
• Inspiration from John MacKinnon (and an emotional thank you from Gregg Ratliff), Larry Heron, Alexander de Laiglesia, Susan Spader and Uwe Göthert. 
• IDCFA and DC&A Strategic Implementation Team updates:
  • Branding, Driving Public Programming, Digital Sales, Succession Planning, Quality WOW Delivery and capturing large accounts.
  • Drive Growth through innovation
    • Dr. David Urban (MTSU) on working with universities
    • Corey Perlman on using social media to drive business (and about 50 other marketing ideas!)
    • AND Driving deeper customer relationships through connecting on core issues impacting our customers world-wide.

CLICK HERE for more highlights!

WOW!  That doesn't even include the networking during breaks, lunch or our Chicago inspired dinner event. 

I would like to personally thank the Planning Committee for the time they spent building the agenda for this year's meeting. The Committee was led by Mike Scott, and members included Bob Dickson, Dan Handley and Scott Garvis.

Go ahead and mark your calendars for June 23 & 24, 2016 for the next Owner's Meeting!  In addition, look for owners meetings to be held during the regional conferences later this year.

Thank you for your passion and dedication to this great business!

Enthusiastically, 

Allyn